Cigarette butt receptacle

ABSTRACT

A receptacle for cigar and cigarette butts, especially adapted to be installed in a public area, comprising a main body supported on an upright stand and comprising a hollow spherical upper portion having a butt inlet opening and a downwardly converging hollow conical portion contiguously communicating with the hollow interior of the spherical portion and having a butt outlet opening normally closed by a door. The bottom surface of the interior of the conical portion is downwardly sloped toward the outlet opening, whereby the butts deposited in the receptacle flow out automatically through the outlet opening when the door is opened.

[111 3,853,263 14 1 Dec. 10,- 1974 1 CIGARETTE BUTT RECEPTACLE [76] Inventor: Jiro Otsuka, 1323-247 Hisagi,

Zushi, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 8, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 386,743

[52] US, Cl. 232/431, 131/242 [51] Int. Cl B65d 91/00 [58] Field of Search 131/231, 241, 242; 49/394 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 993,794 5/19'11 Raggio 232/431 x 1,525,486 2/1925 Wood 131/231 X 1,802,375 4/1931 -Crame1' .f. 232/44 X 1,921,933 8/1933 Levenberg et a1... 232/431 1,977,922 10/1934 Serre 131/242 X 1,988,657 1/1935 Jones 131/242 2,481,378 9/1949 'Wolfset.... 232/431 X 2,637,490 5/1953 Harris 232/431 3,331,161 7/1967 Ruff 49/394 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 720,056 12/1954 England 232/433 Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Peter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen 57 ABSTRACT A receptacle for cigar and cigarette butts, especially adapted to be installed in a public area, comprising a main body supported on an upright stand and comprising a hollow spherical upper portion havinga butt inlet opening and a downwardly converging hollow conical portion contiguously communicating with the hollow interior of the spherical portion and having a butt outlet opening normally closed by a .door. The bottom surface of the interior of the conical portion is downwardly sloped toward the outlet opening, whereby the butts deposited in the receptacle flow out automatically through the outlet opening when the door is opened.

5 Claims, 5- Drawing Figures Pmwwww sneer EM 2 FIG.4

FIG.5

1 CIGARETTE BUTT RECEPTACLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to receptacles for cigar and cigarette butts, and more particularly to a cigarette butt receptacle adapted to be set up along sidewalks or in any public or private area wherein scattered cigar and cigarette butts cause a nuisance.

Heretofore,-various types of receptacles for cigar and cigarette butts have been proposed. For instance, in railway stations or public halls where a great many people gather, smoking stands, cans, or bins of comparatively large sizes and of various designs are placed in the area wherein smoking is allowed.

Most of such smoking stands or the like are made of refractory materials such as metals, ceramics, and sometimes stones and frequently includefire extinguishing agents such as water, sand, and the like. The smoking stands and the similar receptacles are further constructed in such, a manner that cigar or cigarette butts collected therein can be easily removed therefrom, and that they have a self-indicative feature or features by way of their colour, configuration, or notation, whereby people can easily discriminate thesmoking stands from remote points through a glance over the area.

However, these smoking stands and the like used in, for instance, railway stations are, in most cases, too large in size and too complicated in construction, so that they are unsuitable to be set up along sidewalks and at bus stops where the expected amount of the cigar and cigarette butts is not as great.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION cigar or cigarette butts received in the receptacle burn up in a strong wind.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a receptacle which is of a construction free from sharp edges and projections which might harm human bodies and catch clothes.

Still another object of the invention is' to provide a cigarette butts receptacle of a construction whereby the cigar or cigarette butts collected therein can be removed therefrom by a one-touch action.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a cigarette butt receptacle of a self'indicative configuration which can be identified from remote points by a mere glance.

With all of the above described objects and required features in view, a novel cigarette butt receptacle in accordance with the present invention comprises a stand, a hollow main body supported by said stand, said main body including a hollow spherical upper portion and a downwardly converging hollow conical lower portion integrally connected to said spherical portion and inter? nally communicating with the interior of said spherical portion, means forming in said spherical portion an inlet opening for receiving cigarette butts and the like to be deposited in said main body, means forming in said conical portion an outlet opening for removing the cigarette butts therethrough from within said main body, a door closing said outlet opening, hinge means on said main body and pivotally supporting the door in a manner swingable around a horizontal hinge axis and allowing the door to be hung under gravity in a vertical attitude, when the door is open, with the lower end of the. door spaced apart horizontally from the lower end of said outlet opening, latching means for holding said door in closed position in which the door forms part of the conical wall of said conical portion, andmeans providing a bottom surface of said conical portion, down-- wardly sloping toward said outlet opening. The invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like parts are designated by like reference numerals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIGS. 1 and 2 arefront and side elevational views, respectively, showing a cigarette butt receptacle constituting a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a main portion of the cigarette butt receptacle shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which is taken along the line lII--Ill in FIG. 1; j

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the main portion of the cigarette butt receptacle shown in FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, on a much enlarged scale, of a part surrounded by a circle V in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a cigarette butt receptacle constituting a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a structural stand 1, for example, in the form of an upright post, adapted to be erected on the ground, pavement, or floor, and a main body generally designated by reference numeral 2 rigidly mounted on the upper end of the structural stand 1.

The main body 2 may be made of a refractory mate rial such as metal, porcelain, or the like. However, for simplicity of description, it is assumed that the main body of the embodiment is made of a metal.

The main body 2 is formed as a hollow integral mass by casting, for example. The mass includes a spherical portion 2a and a conical portion 2b integrally combined with each other and having an internal space 20 therewithin.

As is best illustrated in FIG. 3, the main body 2 has a front opening 3 provided in the spherical portion 2a, of the main body and directed forward and slightly upward, and a rear opening 4 provided in the conical por- A surface 6 on the bottom of the internal space of the conical portion 2b is curved to be inclined downward and rearward so that the rearmost end of the surface 6 merges into the lower edge of the rear opening 4.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, a door 7 is provided for the rear opening 4 such that it is vertically swingable around a horizontally extended hinge pin 8a 7 of a hinge 8 provided on the outside surface of the main body 2 at a suitable position above the rear opening 4. Since the hinge 8 is located at a position further to the rear from the vertical central axis of the main body 2 than the rear opening 4 provided through the conical portion 212 which is narrowed downwardly, the door 7 made swingable around the hinge pin 8a is suspended downward fromthe hinge pin 8a when the door 7 is open and left free, and the rear opening 4 is thereby opened.

As best illustrated in FIG. 5, a locking or latching device is provided for the door 7 at the lowerend thereof. The device comprises a locking pin 11 passing through a holding part 9 formed integrally with the door 7, and a socket l integral with the conical portion 2b of the main body 2. The socket 10 has a hole 10a in axial alignment with the locking ,pin 11 slidably received in the part 9. When the lower end of the locking pin 11 is received in the hole 10a of the socket 10, the door 7 is locked in the closed state.

The locking pin 11 is provided with a reduceddiameter portion lla at the upper part thereof so that a shoulder is formed at 11b. Likewise, a hole provided through the holding part 9 is provided with a reduceddiameter portion 912 forming a step 90 at the lower end of the reduced-diameter portion 9b. The relative positions of the step 90 in the hole 9a and the shoulder 11b on the locking pin 11 are so selected that the shoulder abuts the step when the lower end of the locking pin 11 is completely disengaged from the hole 10a of the socket l0.

Since the upper end of the locking pin 11 is initially inserted through the lower end of the hole 9a within the holding part 9 and then a knob 110 is secured to the upper end of the locking pin 11, locking and unlocking operations of the locking device can be effected by the knob llc, and any possibility of the locking pin 11 dropping out of the holding piece 9 can be completely eliminated.

In use, the cigarette butt receptacle according to this invention is installed on a'street, for example, in the upright condition as shown. When cigar or cigarette butts are put into the receptacle through the perforations 5a of the grate 5, the butts drop onto and are deposited on the sloped bottom surface 6 of the conical portion 2b. Since the door 7 is closed, the deposited butts are prevented from flowing outward through the outlet opening 4 and stored on the surface 6 in contact with the inner surface of the door 7. I

' When the receptacle becomes full of butts, the knob llc is manually pulled upward until the shoulder 11b abuts the step 90, whereby the lower part of the locking pin 11 is disengaged from the hole 100 of the socket l0 and,the door 7 is allowed to be swung outward underface 6 are allowed to flow outward because of the downward slope of the surface 6. Thus, the removal of the butts from within the receptacle is greatly facilitated.

After the butts have been removed, the door 7 is again closed by pulling the knob 11c upward and pressing the door 7 inward. After the door 7 has taken the closed position the knob is released, whereby the locking pin 11 moves downward into the ,hole 10a of the socket 10 and the door is locked in the closed position.

The cigarette butt receptacle according to this invention has a main body with spherical configuration. This is very advantageous since the receptacle is free of any sharp edges and projections which may be dangerous when the receptacle is installed on a street or in public area. Furthermore, the spherical configuration of the receptacle is advantageous because it enables persons to recognize it at a glance. Further, the slightly upward orientation of the inlet opening 3 makes it easy to put cigarette butts into the receptacle.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigarette butt receptacle comprising a stand, a main body supported by said stand and including a hollow spherical upper portion and a hollow lower portion integrally connected to said upper portion and internally communicating with the interior of said upper portion, means forming in said upper portion an inlet opening for receiving cigarette butts and the like to be retained in said main body, means forming in said lower portion an outlet opening for removing the cigarette butts therethrough from within said main body, and a door normally closing said outlet opening:

the improvement wherein said lower portion comprises a downwardly converging conical body with a wall inclining inwardly in the downward direction, hinge means pivotally supporting said door around a horizontal hinge axis along the upper edge of said outlet opening and in a suspended manner allowing the door to be hung under gravity in a vertical attitude, when the door is opened, with the lower end of the door spaced apart horizontally from the lower edge of said outlet opening, latching means for holding said door in closed position in which the door forms part of the conical wall of said lower portion and means forming a bottom surface of said lower portion, downwardly sloping toward the lower edge of said outlet opening.

2. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inlet opening is formed in a front side of said receptacle and said outlet opening is formed in a rear side of the receptacle. I

3. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inlet opening is fitted therein with a grat 4. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inlet opening is directed slightly upward.

5. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latching means comprises a holding part secured to the door, a locking pin slidably received in said holding piece, and a socket on said main body,

having a hole disposed to receive saidlocking pin. 

1. In a cigarette butt receptacle comprising a stand, a main body supported by said stand and including a hollow spherical upper portion and a hollow lower portion integrally connected to said upper portion and internally communicating with the interior of said upper portion, means forming in said upper portion an inlet opening for receiving cigarette butts and the like to be retained in said main body, means forming in said lower portion an outlet opening for removing the cigarette butts therethrough from within said main body, and a door normally closing said outlet opening: the improvement wherein said lower portion comprises a downwardly converging conical body with a wall inclining inwardly in the downward direction, hinge means pivotally supporting said door around a horizontal hinge axis along the upper edge of said outlet opening and in a suspended manner allowing the door to be hung under gravity in a vertical attitude, when the door is opened, with the lower end of the door spaced apart horizontally from the lower edge of said outlet opening, latching means for holding said door in closed position in which the door forms part of the conical wall of said lower portion and means forming a bottom surface of said lower portion, downwardly sloping toward the lower edge of said outlet opening.
 2. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inlet opening is formed in a front side of said receptacle and said outlet opening is formed in a rear side of the receptacle.
 3. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inlet opening is fitted therein with a grating.
 4. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inlet opening is directed slightly upward.
 5. A cigarette butt receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latching means comprises a holding part secured to the door, a locking pin slidably received in said holding piece, and a socket on said main body, having a hole disposed to receive said locking pin. 